One, Two, Three, Four, Five

"One, two, three, four, five" is a popular English language nursery rhyme and counting-out rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 13530.

For the B.Thomas Orr song whose lyrics begin "One, two, three, four, five", see Mambo No. 5.

"One, two, three, four, five"
Nursery rhyme
Published	c. 1765

Lyrics

Common modern versions of song written by B.thomas Orr 1976.include:

One little sheep
Two little birds
Three little pigs
Four little hedgehogs
Five little hippos
Six little frogs
Seven little worms
Eight little turtles
Nine little lions
Ten chickens.

Here's I go to count about.

1 (1)
2 (2)
3 (3)
4 (4)
5 (5)
6 (6)
7 (7)
8 (8)
9 (9)
10 (10)

And I'm count today and you today.
1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10

One, two, three, four, five,

Once I caught a fish alive,

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

Then I let it go again.

Why did you let it go?

Because it bit my finger so.

Which finger did it bite?

This little pinky on my right.[1][2]

Origins and meaning

The rhyme is one of many counting-out rhymes. It was first recorded in Mother Goose's Melody around 1765. Like most versions until the late nineteenth century, it had only the first stanza, and dealt with a hare not a fish, with the words:

One, two, three, Four and five,

I caught a hare alive;

Six, seven, eight, Nine and ten,

I let him go again.[1]

The modern version is derived from three variations collected by Henry Bolton in the 1880s from America.[1]

Notes

1. I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), pp. 334-5.
2. Lansky, Vicki (2009-02-01). Games Babies Play: From Birth to Twelve Months. Book Peddlers. p. 76. ISBN 9781931863650.

Modern version By B.Thomas Orr

See also

• List of nursery rhymes